Memories
by makiyazawa
Summary: Nico never thought death was this lonely. But she's okay with it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

 **not surprisingly, killing nico is fun. jk still love ya 2nd best girl**

 **hope you enjoy this fic i made at 3 in the morning**

 **reviews r very much appreciated it makes my heart go doki doki**

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Nico doesn't remember when, or how it happened, but she's dead. And Nico knows that. She remembers fully how much she loves her family, and how much she loves her life. Her lost life. Little by little, though. She forgets. And forgetting is painful. No, it's not painful, actually. It's traumatizingly scary. She's been dead, alone in this large house, for about.. 2 months? Yes, 2 months. Put it simply, she's a ghost.

One day, though. A person moved in her house. Her lonely house. And at first sight, Nico immediately fell in love. The girl Nico fell in love with was everything Nico ever wanted to be back when she was alive. The girl had beautiful red locks, amethyst eyes, and the perfect body figure. Nico absolutely loved that.

The girl would never invite any friends, making the conclusion that she was a total loner. Not that she was any different though. She also was a big fan of music and tomatoes. Especially tomatoes. Every night, Nico would laugh as the girl tries to operate the kitchen, trying to make a large tomato dinner, ultimately failing with every try. And in the end, the girl would give up. The girl would probably be in misery, but for Nico, this was her only source of entertainment.

Nico also concluded the girl was especially rich, as every single one of her musical and kitchen appliances were way too expensive to be real.(as nico remembers back when she was alive). The girl also does embarrassing things when alone, like reading cheesy romance novels and crying about it. Nico found that extremely charming.

Some days, though. The girl would just cry herself to sleep, making Nico worry. But the next day, the girl would act as if nothing happened. Nico feels familiar with the girl, with every song she plays, every giggle and blush she makes when she reads books, and every tear she sheds. Nico felt too familiar. As if she saw it all once before.

And sometimes, when Nico snoops around, Nico would find pictures of girls together with the red-head and feels a tinge of jealousy. It was weird. Nico wanted to be alive once more again, wanting to experience the joys of youth, like falling in love, learning, and feeling excitement. But for Nico, it was all over. All over. And Nico would feel pain, an indescribable feeling in her chest that she couldn't quite grasp.

There are days, too, where the strange girl would just play music endlessly without taking a break. She sometimes drinks water, yeah, but for more than 8 hours, the vermillion-haired girl would play beautiful music, and it gave Nico memories. Memories she cannot explain. It was probably from when Nico was still alive, but the memories were mixed and confusing- but Nico had to bear with those memories, because other than this red-haired girl, those memories gave her life. Even if she's dead.

Nico would sometimes check what the redhead does, only to see the girl doing boring homework. Nico usually furrows her eyebrows in confusion when she sees.. math? Yes, Nico remembers math. She remembers it being extremely hard, annoying, and she also remembers someone who bugs her to study about math. Only thing that sucked, was that she can't remember who on earth bugged her. Nico had a feeling that person was endlessly annoying and close to her.

Nico also sees the girl's name. "Nishikino Maki.." Nico took note of that name, trying her best to bury it inside of her memories, making sure she would never forget it. What a pretty name for a pretty girl, Nico thinks. Nico finds it slightly silly though, as the name sounds so serious, but the person in question slips in the bathroom and closes the T.V every time a horror movie comes on.

Years pass, and this Maki girl stops playing music. She stops pressing the keys of her piano and starts inviting a girl over her house, talking and laughing endlessly. Nico's memories stop coming, and instead, they drift away. It hurts. Loneliness hurts. The redhead has slowly matured through time, and the memories and feelings Nico harbored lost its meaning.

Gradually, Nico loses the drop of life left inside her death.

Maki is now married with two adopted children, happy with her life. Maki still lives in the house. Nico finds that a bit weird. She expected Maki to buy another house, considering her wealth. But Nico isn't allowed to bother Maki or interfere, for she is nothing but a useless ghost. She is now nothing to Maki. Well, she never has been anything to Maki, but she'd like to think.

Nico pleads, she pleads, that Maki play one last piece of music to Nico, but no matter what, Maki won't budge. Of course she won't. Maki can't see nor hear Nico.

Nico is starting to disappear, her non-existent body is slowly drifting away. She can see remnants of her transparent body slowly disassemble piece by piece, and it is horrifying. It's scary. Nico feels something warm come from the corners of her eyes, a feeling she hasn't felt for a few years now.

Tears.

Nico is disappearing. In a faster pace than she did not too long ago. Now, she is disappearing by the second. It was certainly weird. Nico does not find it scary anymore. She finds it peaceful. She is fine with drifting away, and finally going where she was meant to go. She knows ghosts stay on earth for a reason, but her reason is becoming more and more gone by the moment.

Nico tries, for one last time.

"Please, Maki-chan. Play one last song for me." Nico says. She doesn't know why "-chan" came out of her mouth, but she said it. And it felt natural. Nico sees it. She sees the light. She also sees her body slowly distinguishing in the wind, starting from her hand. It was as if paper was slowly ripped one by one, throwing each piece into the abyss. It didn't feel painful though. It only made Nico feel light-headed.

Maki was cooking for her two children. Her two children. Nico felt bad for bothering Maki's cooking she learned over the years of failing, but this was urgent. If she let any second pass by, she's afraid she'll disappear.

Maki stops chopping the vegetables and rests the knife down the chopping board. She doesn't look behind her. She just stops whatever she's doing. Because she swears- she swears she hear Nico. She swears she hears Nico's voice. The voice she's yearned for years. Maki knows it's just her imagination though. Nico is dead.

Still, Maki looks behind, excited to see where the disembodied voice came from.

There is nothing but thin air.

Maki sighs,

"Must be my imagination."


	2. nico nico nii

**A/N**

 **Hey ya'll. I love nicomaki, yeah, but crap i love killing nico too.**

 **also credits to my friend who helped me tailor the piano scene. hearing that idea really hit me. thanks! also u suck lmao jk**

 **review, follow, and favorite! It boosts my self-esteem! (wow very egocentric.)**

 **sorry if i got the music parts wrong i dont even know what im typing anymore its three in the morning so i humbly apologize.**

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"Maki, dear, you've been staring at your old photo album for a while now." A beautiful woman with a dark black shade of hair and attractive emerald eyes said, sipping a cup of tea. She had a wonderfully calming aura about her, relaxing, but still mature and stern. Although Maki did hear her voice, Maki still stared at the small, pink book. "Oh, uh-" Maki blinked for a few seconds until then replying. "Just looking at some pictures.." violet eyes still glued to the lively-looking images.

"You look sad." The lady pointed out, placing her cup of tea down the table and crossed her legs, adjusting herself in a more comfortable seating position. Maki took a moment to retort, but all she managed to say were a bunch of jumbled up words. Something about the tone in her voice sounded embarrassed, but mostly dismissing. "No I'm not-" The woman chuckled, "I've been your therapist for five years, and you expect me not to know you?" The woman laughed once again, adding a few words to her sentence, probably just to mess with Maki, "your wife too." Maki opened her mouth, looking as if she was trying to say something, but closed it because she knew that what the woman said was absolutely true and she had no comeback for that. She felt her cheeks warm up before looking away to make sure her wife doesn't see that red hue on her face.

" Jeez.." Maki continued to blush, only lighter this time. She closed the small, pink photo album and rested it upon the small coffee table in front of her. Making sure not to knock any of the cups that were on the table, she placed it at the bottom right corner of the table.

She pouted. Of course, even the shortest of sentences her wife tells her, for some reason, Maki always succumbs and tells whatever her spouse wanted to know. Maki's wife very much reminded her of a certain purple-haired friend, but only more troublesome. (and lovable jk love ya nozoboob)

Maki took a worried glance at her wife and finally caved in, but still hesitant. "You might call me bull on this, but-" Maki looked to the side, persistently trying to not meet her eyes with the other lady, but continued, "I heard something yesterday and.."

"Don't hesitate Maki. No matter what you say, I'll believe you." With a smile, the woman acknowledged Maki and helped her speak up her mind. It seems to be working, because the moment she said it, Maki finally continued, this time, not doubting.

"I heard Nico-chan's voice- and.. she wanted me to do something, but it might just be my imagination.." Maki had a painful look on her face, which her wife can absolutely not ignore. The woman's first instinct was to speak her mind and always support Maki. It was like dealing with a time bomb that'll detonate in five seconds.

"Maki, don't be sad, okay? Whatever you'll say, I will believe you. I promise that." Reassuring grin plastered on her face, she circled her hand in the air repeatedly, giving Maki hand signs to go on. Maki in return, nodded and swallowed her pride, mentally preparing herself to speak up.

"She wanted me to do something." The 'do' part of her sentence was said harshly, as if she was spitting venom out of her mouth.

Noticing the dark presence in her words, her wife coughed, "In my opinion, just do what you think she'd like you to do. I'm sure she'll be very happy. You better do it before 3 too, the kids are coming home in a few." She winked and placed her cup of tea down the coffee table. The woman did indeed have a feeling they had an extra person in the house other than Maki, her, Ruby, and Dia. The two's children.

"What're you waiting for? Go!" Giving the thumbs-up hand motion, amethyst eyes stared at it for a good three seconds. Silence filling the room, the redhead decided her wife was indeed right. Staying here and doing nothing won't help anything. Besides, even if it were just all in Maki's head, her spouse was correct. '

She walked through what looked to be almost an endless flight of stairs, because the music room was way too far away from the living room. Maki had gotten used to it, of course, but it's been such a while that she didn't remember how long the hallways and stairs were.

It sat right beside the attic after all. It was a room in her house she hadn't visited in a few years.

She took a deep breath and mentally prepped herself for what will lie beyond that room. Nico's stuff was still inside this room, along with Maki's piano. There were only a few things inside this room like Nico's old bags, books, and other things that Maki couldn't bring herself to throw away.

Finally opening the door, she was greeted by a sweet scent of strawberries. Violet eyes blinking, she felt chills run through her spine. That room was a room she hadn't visited in almost six years, and it smells like a scent that she'd never dare to smell or remember, ever since her old girlfriend's passing.

It was odd, as Maki would say. But odd isn't the proper term for it- it's longing. Maki recalls what had happened the day before, hearing a voice and wanting to hear it again. In this room, Maki had a similar feeling. A similar but slightly more peculiar feeling. No, actually, it felt like a much more upgraded version.

Warmth.

Warmth surging through her body, feeling coziness, feeling like those days where they'd have movie nights, feeling like that one time she laughed at Nico slipping at the ice skating rink, feeling the moment Nico asked her to be her girlfriend to which Maki gladly accepted, and feeling the best feeling she'd ever felt. _Love._

Remembering those things, Maki felt her eyes water. Realizing she'd been staring at the grand, white, piano, she shook her head in an attempt to remove herself from that trance-like state.

"It's been a long time.." She stepped closer to her old piano, something she hadn't seen in many years. Talking to it, she had a small flashback of that time she was still a small six year old, happily tapping away at those keys that looked too big for her reach.

Maki held her hand close to it and slightly dragged her hand against the piano. Realizing there was dust, she hurriedly tried to find some mop or duster to clean the piano with, but her hands made its way down her pocket, where her handkerchief was.

With a single swipe, she wiped the places where dust was most visible- the top of the closed lid of the piano. Making sure to wipe all dirt and dust away, she felt slightly proud at her achievement. Which, does not actually seem like an achievement if you were a normal person.

Taking a deep breath, she noticed something. The sweet smell of strawberries were stronger than ever. It was as if the smell was originating from the piano itself. Maki inspected the piano, the inside, under it, every part of it. No freshener or strawberries were to be found.

Brushing off the smell, she decided that the smell wasn't really a bothersome feat. It just reminded her of some thoughts that used to be pleasant to her. Used to be.

Maki took a glance at the wonderful white piano bench which looked like the most comfortable she'd ever seen. She found herself sitting down at the piano bench, and feeling something profound. Memories. Oh so much memories. They were wonderful, but there was something dark hidden under it.

Just sitting down at the piano made her remember so many memories back in highschool and in college, back when she was still an intern at the Nishikino Hospital, the times where she had to hide from her father just to be able to play music. And sitting down there just felt so.. so _right._ Maki felt complete, fulfilled.

But Maki playing the piano looked wrong. Which was completely contradicting to how she actually feels. Maki lowered her head for a second and promptly closed her eyes. It was her escape from reality. Sitting down at the piano and fitting her fingers to the large black and white keys helped clear her mind. Her mind was swirling in so many thoughts, but that small act completely destroyed the negative thoughts she had.

She tapped a single note, 'Play for me, Maki-chan.' That silent mutter felt so loud in the moment Maki was bathing in. She used that moment as inspiration to play a song. Maki didn't know what song she was gonna play. She let her slender fingers take over and rule the music that she was about to produce.

Maki raised the fall board, and then removing the cloth residing above the keys.

Tapping the first note, Maki could feel her fingers attaching to those keys firmly, continuing like clockwork, her fingers were almost glued to the piano, to the point she couldn't stop tapping. It reeled her in, the music did. She could feel goosebumps crawling slowly up her arms, but not even that stopped her from playing. In fact, it even fueled her more to play, adding to the long list of reasons why she couldn't stop playing.

Reaching the climax of the song, Maki took a long whiff of the sweet scent around her and briefly paused. Smiling, she started to play again, now, the tone is calming. It was steady. It was perfect.

She now remembered the reason why she loved to play this particular instrument. The rush. The energy. The wonder. Maki abandoned this hobby of hers because she felt that if she got too attached to it, she wouldn't be able to stop. It was because playing gave her so many feelings, remembrances, memories, and emotions that weren't really something Maki considered good. She considered it hopelessly depressing. And now, the reason for her depression toward the piano is gone. Her old memories were replaced with beautiful new ones. Like that time she gave birth to her daughter Ruby and seeing her cry, Maki felt so accomplished. Maki learned that the piano was her escape route from all those sad memories. But it also gave her the time to create new ones. New good ones. Maki felt empty. Even though the piano gave her so much, there was still something missing that the piano cannot give. Nico.

But Nico is gone.

Her fingers continued to play.

Before she knew it, the music took an abrupt stop.

Not knowing why, Maki looked down. Her fingers stopped playing.

"Right.." She muttered under her breath, just realizing that the song took an end. She was so concentrated in the music that she didn't realize. Maki pulled her fingers away in a rough way, scared that if she played more, she wouldn't stop. Maki closed her eyes and closed the fall board down to protect the piano. Even if Maki won't use it anymore, that piano gave and took so much. There was an attachment like a parent is to their child.

Even if it were hard to accept, Maki loved the piano.

But without _her,_ Maki couldn't find a reason. Only one. It was fun.

Sighing, Maki stood up and turned her back against the piano. She couldn't dare to look at it. Because no matter how hard she wanted to play the piano, something inside of her told her to stop. It was a mental block. Playing the piano made her remember so many memories, but it also reminded her of those times she played the piano without taking a break even once.

" _Thank you."_

Maki took a double take on what she had just heard. It was like yesterday.

This time, though. Something was different.

Maki felt a certain type of coldness stick to her back. It was strangely comforting.

 _"Thank you."_

The voice said it again.

Maki didn't look back. Because she knew that if she did, it might disappear like it did yesterday. So, Maki stood still. She was frozen in place. (MAKI WAS SH00K)

"Are you Nico-chan?" Maki managed to gather the courage to speak up against the unseen entity.

 _"Thank you."_

It didn't reply. It just repeated what it said. Like a recorder.

Maki felt her legs weaken, and she fell to the ground. The chilling feeling was still behind her. Still hugging her. Was that what it was called? Maki didn't know. In fact, it just felt like blocks of ice were placed on her back without letting go. Maki guessed that it was a ghost. She was probably correct. It doesn't answer with any good answers though. It did sound like Nico. But was that enough evidence to conclude that it was her?

Maki felt the chill begin to loosen and slowly, it was completely gone. "Eh?" Was all Maki could mutter. She heard slow footsteps walking away.

Maki stood up quickly, almost slipping in the process, but she managed to stand up and run after where she could hear the footsteps.

The footsteps were slow, but there was nothing there. She could hear footsteps, though. So what was it? Maki attempted to find the sound of the footsteps and could only find one place where the footsteps took a stop.

It was behind the piano, Maki's old desk. The desk where she always placed her unfinished composition.

Walking slowly, Maki stepped closer to the desk, walking to the right to avoid accidentally bumping her hips on the piano.

She stopped at the desk.

She looked over at the top of the desk.

There was a notebook.

It wasn't just a notebook.

It was Nico's diary.

Nico leaned in closer to the notebook and picked it up with her right hand.

She read the contents.

The pages were already open for her to see.

It was the last page that contained words.

" _April 19, 2026_

 _This is Nico nii's diary entry number 358!_

 _Wow it's been a while since I started writing!_

 _Anyway~_

 _Today is my wonderful girlfriend Maki-chan's birthday!"_

Maki cupped her mouth with her left hand and let her tears flow. She didn't try to wipe her away. Her hands were occupied.

"Nico-chan.." Her voice was shaking. Maki felt touched and pained at the same time. But she continued to read.

 _"I want her to have the best day ever._

 _I don't want her to have any regrets._

 _And I don't want her to ever feel sad when she's with me._

 _Because she's my one and only Maki~!_

 _I'm actually planning to give her this page! So, Maki-chan! I'll tell you these things. These are pretty short since I'm on my break during practice, so sorry!_

 _I love you even though sometimes you hit me with those books of yours!_

 _Also I'm sorry for forgetting to give you my second button! Looks like I forgot, teehee!To compensate, I know the perfect thing._

 _I have a ring._

 _And I'm going to propose to you._

 _I hope you'll always smile._

 _Aren't you lucky?"_

"That doesn't mean that you get to be excused to crash your car, idiot!" Maki didn't know what she was feeling. Was it anger? Was it pain? Was it sadness? She just didn't know what to say at that time. She hated the fact that Nico left her alone. But Maki knew that if Nico died, there must've been a reason right? Maki is happy with the supportive family she has now, but she still can't forget the fact that Nico was as careless as to go on a red light and leave her.

Something clicked in Maki's mind.

If Nico was going to propose, then where's the ring?Maki cleared the scattered desk and removed the items atop of it one by one, until stopping to look at one box.

It was a flashy, pink, box, with gold words embroidered at the front.

" _NicoMaki!"_ Maki remembered she used to scold Nico for inventing that stupid phrase.

Maki opened the box and picked up the gold ring.

It looked so new, there was even a diamond at the center of it. Maki was mesmerized by the dazzle of the diamond. Even if the ring was quite old, it didn't look to be.

Maki looked at the ring closely and looked at the inside.

 _"Nico Nico Nii!"_

Maki didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Even if she was now gone, Nico never failed to make Maki smile.

But she was certain of one thing.

Nico's name truly meant smile.

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 **A/N again!**

 **Sup again guys.**

 **if some people didnt get the ugly stupid ending, nico left a small amount of consciousness to be able to say the words she couldn't say.**

 **tbh it kinda sucked i apologize i lost inspiration toward the end**

 **my main reason for writing this is to kill nico but now idk how this monstrosity happened.**

 **im sorry if it sucks i just dont know what i wrote i didnt even reread this im sleepy as hell.**

 **i felt that the first chapter was kind of lacking.**

 **once again, pls review, follow, and favorite if you liked it! if u didnt like it, its ok i know this sucked.**

 **anyhow, bye bye and see you all again in my next story!**


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